Haiti Trip #2 and Life

Where to even start? I got back from Haiti late Friday night. I went with 5 other women(my BFF Meredith, Martha, Theresa, Kim, and Char) to the orphanage in Ouinaminthe we visited last November and once again, the kids stole my heart. Really, the whole community/city did. There is something inside of me that reassures my involvement there, but I can't quite figure out what my role is. All I know is my heart is attached. I am trusting the Lord to make the connections and give me wisdom in how to respond to the poverty and needs in Haiti...particularly this area of Haiti and my orphan babies. Please pray with me about how to respond to this heaviness in my heart/tug from the Lord.

This was by far one of the sweetest, best trips I have ever been on. So much was accomplished for the people there. Here are a few things "we" got done, thanks to our fearless leader, Martha(restorehaiti.blogspot.com) and her well planned agenda. It was definitely a group effort(I feel confident she would not want to receive all the credit, she's just cool like that), but without all her work/instruction/research/delegations before the trip, the things accomplished probably wouldn't have happened.

JUST FYI: I WILL TALK MORE ABOUT THE AMAZING ORPHANAGE KIDS IN ANOTHER POST IN THE NEAR FUTURE!

Before I tell you what was accomplished, let me give you some HISTORY/FACTS:

* Willio is the man responsible for the orphanage in Haiti. Including his two little girls, there are 32 children in the orphanage.

* Willio also started a school for free to the community kids that consists of about 1000 students. He has 23 teachers who teach these students in morning and afternoon sessions.

* Because the organization who supported Willio and the orphanage had to pull their monthly support in February, Willio has struggled to pay the teachers and keep basic needs met for the kids ever since.

*The orphans were being split up into families throughout the community while Willio used the orphanage as a school building(the school they were meeting in will fall any day now) for the nine months school was in session.

*The teachers are not getting paid adequately for their services. These teachers are vital for education and hope for this community.

SOME GOALS THIS TRIP WERE:

*LOVE ON OUR KIDDOS AT THE ORPHANAGE. :)

* Take pictures of the teachers and orphanage kids, along with their "stories" in hopes of bringing it back to the states to raise support.

* Start accounts for the teachers at the local bank in Ouinaminthe to ensure proper handling of money once the support is raised.

*Take school supplies, clothes, basic medicine/first aid materials, etc. to the orphanage.

*Walk through a possible building for rent, and give the money necessary to rent it, so that Willio could use it for the school, in order to keep the orphans in their "home" year round.

EVERYTHING ABOVE WAS ACCOMPLISHED(and more I'm sure I'm forgetting)!!!

I was also able to visit a clinic in Ouinaminthe that is well thought out and ran. While my heart is not as tangled up in medicine as it is in the orphanage kids, I hope to go and serve there for a week(ish) in January during the day, and stay with my kids in the afternoon and at night!

Praise God for His favor, grace, and love that was poured out on us during this trip. It could not have gone any smoother. To God be the GLORY, great things HE has done!!

If you contributed prayers, money, school materials, medicines, clothes, toys, etc. towards this trip, I cannot thank you enough. May God bless you and reveal Himself to you, as you have blessed the children and community of Ouinaminthe.

Please feel free to e-mail me at kbwiggs@liberty.edu if you have in depth questions, want to help support a teacher or child at the orphanage, etc.

More to come on whats next in helping to "RestoreHaiti"....:)